10 U.S.C. § 156: Legal Counsel to the Chairman…

Summary

Creates a Legal Counsel job to serve the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The Secretary of Defense sets the rules for picking the officer. The person must be recommended by a board of officers the Secretary calls, and that board should, as much as possible, follow the same procedures used for other selection boards under chapter 36. The Legal Counsel must do legal work to help the Chairman carry out his duties, as the Chairman directs. No one in the Department of Defense may interfere with the Legal Counsel’s ability to give independent legal advice to the Chairman and to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Title 10, §156

Armed Forces, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)In General.—

There is a Legal Counsel to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

(b)Selection for Appointment.—

Under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Defense, the officer selected for appointment to serve as Legal Counsel to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff shall be recommended by a board of officers convened by the Secretary of Defense that, insofar as practicable, is subject to the procedures applicable to selection boards convened under chapter 36 of this title.

(c)Duties.—

(1)The Legal Counsel of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff shall perform such legal duties in support of the responsibilities of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff as the Chairman may prescribe.

(2)No officer or employee of the Department of Defense may interfere with the ability of the Legal Counsel to give independent legal advice to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2016—Subsecs. (c), (d). Pub. L. 114–328 redesignated subsec. (d) as (c) and struck out former subsec. (c). Prior to amendment, text of subsec. (c) read as follows: “An officer appointed to serve as Legal Counsel to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff shall be appointed in the regular grade of brigadier general or rear admiral (lower half).” 2009—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 111–84 substituted “be appointed in the regular” for “, while so serving, hold the”. 2008—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 110–417 designated existing provisions as par. (1) and added par. (2).

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 2009 Amendment Pub. L. 111–84, div. A, title V, § 501(b), Oct. 28, 2009, 123 Stat. 2272, provided that: “The amendment made by subsection (a) [amending this section] shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act [Oct. 28, 2009], and shall apply with respect to individuals appointed as Legal Counsel to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on or after that date.”

§156 Legal Counsel to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff